Yesterday evening’s speaking engagement was a challenge from three points of view: I had to speak for one hour, in French, and at the end of a very busy week. What I hadn’t realised, however, was that it would also be a physical challenge. I have had a small, sniffling cold over the past few days but, anyway, the past two weeks have collectively represented one of those occasions when it is simply impossible to be ill; the show must go on. As I got to the end of my speech last night I realised that my voice was beginning to sound a little hoarse and husky but, then, that would be usual after a one-hour speech. However, by the end of the question-and-answer session my voice had gone altogether. It simply faded away, a bit like a radio when the batteries run out. And it hasn’t come back today. So I went to see the doctor and she told me, in no uncertain terms, that I have simply been speaking too much. Basically, I just have to shut up. Well, obviously, my family will be delighted but it is a novel aspect of the experience of being Secretary General for it is true, if I look back over the last fortnight, that I have had to do an awful lot of talking…